Carpet kicker with a wing panel

ABSTRACT

A carpet kicker with a wing panel including a main body and a first spreading unit for spreading the carpet. The first spreading unit is attached to the bottom of the main body. Both sides of the first spreading unit are provided with a rail for connecting with a wing panel in place. The wing panel includes an elongated portion that is at least two times as long as the width of the first spreading unit. A U-shaped groove opposing to both sides of the first spreading unit is formed at the internal side of the center of the elongated portion. Both sides of the U-shaped groove are provided with a rail recess corresponding to the rail at both sides of the first spreading unit. A receiving chamber with an opening directed downward is formed at both sides of the U-shaped groove, respectively. Moreover, a needle unit for spreading the carpet is disposed within each of the receiving chambers such that a second spreading unit and a third spreading unit are symmetrically positioned at both sides of the U-shaped groove of the elongated portion. In this way, the area for simultaneously spreading the carpet is multiplied.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a carpet kicker with a wing panel, and moreparticularly to a carpet kicker that is employed to move the free end ofthe carpet forward when the carpet is laid. Moreover, a wing panel withspreading units can be attached thereto for multiplying the spread area.

2. Description of the Related Art

Carpets are commonly laid on the floor of our home or office and give usan indoor warm and comfortable feeling. However, carpets must be laidevenly and smoothly on the floor, or else the carpets will be uneven,not only affecting its appearance, but also creating a problem ofstumbling people easily.

If a large carpet is laid, a user usually cannot pull and spread thethick and heavy carpet smoothly by hands, and thus a carpet kicker isneeded for the job.

Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art carpet kicker 70 is used to hold a freeend of a carpet 62 to push it towards a pin board 60 at a wall, and thecarpet kicker 70 includes a rectangular main body 71, a kicking unit 72installed at a front end of the main body 71, a plurality of protrudingpins 73 disposed at the bottom surface of the kicking unit 72 forhooking and pulling the carpet 62. The height of the protruding pin 73can be controlled by a knob 74. The main body 11 includes a cushion 75disposed at an end of the main body 11, and carpet kickers of this sortare disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,023.

When the carpet kicker 70 is in use, a user presses the main body 71 byhands, and pushes the cushion 75 in the arrowed direction by knees, suchthat the kicking unit 72 holds and moves the carpet 62 gradually towardsa pin board 60 on a wall, and finally hooks an edge of the carpet 62 toa hook pin 61 of the pin board 60 to spread and fix the carpet 62.

Referring to FIG. 2 for another prior art carpet kicker 80, the carpetkicker 80 comprises an air pressure input end 81 connected to an aircompressor 90 for providing air pressure to a housing 83 through ahandle 82. The housing 83 includes a piston (not shown) for controllinga piston rod 85 to move forward and backward axially, and an externalend of the piston rod 85 is connected to a hooking rod 86, and thebottom of the hooking rod 86 includes a hook 861. Further, a kickingunit 84 is installed at the bottom of a front end of the housing 83.

However, the width W1 of the kicking unit 70, 84 for hooking and pullingthe carpet 62 is almost the same to that of the apparatus (see FIG. 3)no matter if the manual type carpet kicker 70 or the power type carpetkicker 89 is employed. On the one hand, this design can meet therequirement when the side of the apparatus approaches to a wall parallelthereto. On the other hand, the width W1 of the kicking unit is from 7cm to 10 cm, thereby concentrating the whole force for hooking andpulling the carpet on a small area with 10 cm when the whole carpet isgripped by this smaller area. As a result, a ̂-shaped unevenness iscreated and a further improvement is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacksand to provide a carpet kicker with a wing panel which is attached to anoriginal kicking unit without use of any tools when required forincreasing the lateral spreading area. In this way, the carpet can besmoothly moved forward.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carpet kicker with awing panel that can be rapidly and easily removed without affecting thefunction of the carpet kicker when the wing panel is not used.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the invention includesa main body and a first spreading unit for spreading the carpet. Thefirst spreading unit is attached to the bottom of the main body. A firstspreading unit is attached to the bottom of the main body. Both sides ofthe first spreading unit are provided with a rail for connecting with awing panel in place. The wing panel includes an elongated portion thatis at least two times as long as the width of the first spreading unit.A U-shaped groove opposing to both sides of the first spreading unit isformed at the internal side of the center of the elongated portion. Bothsides of the U-shaped groove are provided with a rail recesscorresponding to the rail at both sides of the first spreading unit. Areceiving chamber with an opening directed downward is formed at bothsides of the U-shaped groove, respectively. Moreover, a needle unit forspreading the carpet is disposed within each of the receiving chamberssuch that a second spreading unit and a third spreading unit aresymmetrically positioned at both sides of the U-shaped groove of theelongated portion. In this way, the area for simultaneously spreadingthe carpet is multiplied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention willbecome apparent from the following descriptions and its accompanyingfigures of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a conventional manual carpet kicker;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional pneumatic carpet kicker;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a conventional carpet kicker in anapplication state;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carpet kicker of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the wing panel arrangement inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the wing panel arrangement in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the wing panel arrangement in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line of 8-8 in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the carpet kicker with a wing panel inaccordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

First of all, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a preferred embodiment of theinvention includes a carpet kicker main body 10. A first spreading unit20 for spreading the carpet is attached to the bottom of the carpetkicker main body 10. The carpet kicker main body 10 and the firstspreading unit 20 are the prior art and can be manually or electricallyoperated. According to the embodiment, the machine body is an electrictype of U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,898, and should not be restricted thereto. Ahook element 11 is disposed at a front end of the carpet kicker mainbody 10. Moreover, the top of the first spreading unit 20 is providedwith a knob 21 for controlling the protruding length of projectingneedles 22.

The carpet kicker in accordance with the invention has the followingfeatures.

Both sides of the first spreading unit 20 are provided with a rail 23for connecting with a wing panel 30 in place. As shown in FIG. 5, thewing panel 30 includes an elongated portion 31 that is at least twotimes as long as the width W1 of the first spreading unit 20. As shownin FIGS. 6 and 7, the width W2 of the elongated portion 31 is preferablyca. 30 cm when the width W1 of the first spreading unit 20 is 10 cm (seeFIGS. 6 and 7). Of course, it can be longer. As shown in FIG. 5, aU-shaped groove 32 opposing to both sides of the first spreading unit 20is formed at the internal side of the center of the elongated portion31. Both sides of the U-shaped groove 32 are provided with a rail recess33 corresponding to the rail 23 at both sides of the first spreadingunit 20 such that the rails 23 fit into the rail recesses 33 when thefirst spreading unit 20 is inserted into the U-shaped groove 32. In thisway, a reliable connection is ensured. As if the diver wears divingshoes before diving, the width of the carpet kicker in accordance withthe invention for gripping the carpet becomes triple (from W1 to W2). Itis not necessary to use any tools in attaching the wing panel 30 to thecarpet kicker. In addition, no other fixing elements are required. Anengaging force is created when the carpet kicker main body 10 is pushedforward. Likewise, the wing panel 30 is easily removed by pulling itforward.

However, only the elongated portion 31 is not enough for hooking andpulling the carpet. Therefore, a receiving chamber 34 with an openingdirected downward is formed at both sides of the U-shaped groove 32,respectively. A needle unit 40 for spreading the carpet is disposedwithin each of the receiving chambers 34 such that a second spreadingunit 50A and a third spreading unit 50B are symmetrically positioned atboth sides of the U-shaped groove 32 of the elongated portion 31 (seeFIGS. 6 and 7). In this way, the area for simultaneously spreading thecarpet is multiplied.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the receiving chamber 34 of the wing panel 30includes a through hole 35 at the top thereof. Moreover, the needle unit40 includes a knob 41, a threaded element 42, a needle base 43 and aplurality of the positioning strips 46. The knob 41 corresponding to thethrough hole 35 is disposed at the top of the elongated portion 31. Thethreaded element 42 has a top portion 421 projecting through the throughhole 35 to be in connection with the knob 41. The threaded element 42further includes a bottom portion in form of a threaded body 422. Thecenter of the needle base 43 includes a threaded sleeve 44 correspondingto the threaded body 422. A plurality of needles 45 are arranged at thebottom of the needle base 43. The positioning strips 46 are fixed byscrews 47 at the bottom of the needle base 43 and interposed between theneedles 45.

As shown in FIG. 8, the vertical position of the needle base 43 withinthe receiving chamber 34 is adjusted by turning the knob 41 in match ofthe threaded element 42, thereby controlling the protruding length ofthe needles 45 for meeting requirements of different carpets. Of course,the needle unit 40 within the first spreading unit 20 can be alsoidentical with the needle unit 40 of the second and third spreadingunits 50A. However, it should not be restricted thereto.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the application state of theinvention fitted with the wing panel 30. The area for gripping thecarpet kicker is multiplied such that the carpet can be pulled andspread more smooth and stable.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of theinvention can, of course, be carried out without departing from thescope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and theuseful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A carpet kicker with a wing panel, comprising a main body and a firstspreading unit for spreading the carpet, the first spreading unit beingattached to the bottom of the main body, wherein both sides of the firstspreading unit are provided with a rail for connecting with a wing panelin place; wherein the wing panel includes an elongated portion that isat least two times as long as the width of the first spreading unit;wherein a U-shaped groove opposing to both sides of the first spreadingunit is formed at the internal side of the center of the elongatedportion; wherein both sides of the U-shaped groove are provided with arail recess corresponding to the rail at both sides of the firstspreading unit; wherein a receiving chamber with an opening directeddownward is formed at both sides of the U-shaped groove, respectively;and wherein a needle unit for spreading the carpet is disposed withineach of the receiving chambers such that a second spreading unit and athird spreading unit are symmetrically positioned at both sides of theU-shaped groove of the elongated portion; thus, the area forsimultaneously spreading the carpet is multiplied.
 2. The carpet kickerwith a wing panel as recited in claim 1 wherein the receiving chamber ofthe wing panel includes a through hole at the top thereof; and whereinthe needle unit 40 comprising: a) a knob disposed corresponding to thethrough hole at the top of the elongated portion; b) a threaded elementhaving a top portion projecting through the through hole to be inconnection with the knob, the threaded element further having a bottomportion in form of a threaded body; c) a needle base having at thecenter thereof a threaded sleeve corresponding to the threaded body, aplurality of needles being arranged at the bottom of the needle base;and d) a plurality of positioning strips 46 fixed by screws at thebottom of the needle base and interposed between the needles.